UK prime minister: Rishi Sunak leads race, Boris Johnson not running

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Sunday he would not run to lead the Conservative Party, ending a short-lived attempt to return to the prime minister’s job he was ousted from little more than three months ago.

His withdrawal leaves former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak the strong favourite to be Britain’s next prime minister. He could win the contest as soon as Monday.

Johnson, who was ousted in July amid ethics scandals has been widely expected to run to replace Liz Truss, who quit last week after her tax-cutting economic package caused turmoil in financial markets and obliterated her authority inside the governing party.

Johnson spent the weekend trying to gain support from fellow lawmakers after flying back from a Caribbean vacation.

Late Sunday he said he had amassed more than 100 names, the threshold to run.

But he was far behind Sunak in support. Johnson said he had concluded that “you can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament.”

Sunak garnered the public support of well over 100 Tory lawmakers to forge ahead of his two main rivals: Johnson and ex-Cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt.

The Conservative Party hastily ordered a contest that aims to finalize nominations Monday and install a new prime minister — its third this year — within a week.

Sunak, 42, was runner-up after Truss in this summer’s Tory leadership race to replace Johnson after he was forced out by a string of ethics scandals. On Sunday, he confirmed he was running again in the latest leadership contest.

Sunak has the backing of at least 124 Conservative lawmakers, according to unofficial tallies compiled by British news organizations. That’s well ahead of the 100 nominations required to qualify.

There will be integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level of the government I lead, and I will work day in and day out to get the job done,” Sunak said in a statement.

Full statement from @BorisJohnson: pic.twitter.com/PNvMOJ1dYN

— Sebastian Payne (@SebastianEPayne) October 23, 2022

The new leader is due to be selected by Friday.

Johnson, 58, who officially quit only in early September, deeply divided the Conservatives and alarmed many others. Supporters said he is a vote winner and has enough support from lawmakers, but many critics warn that another Johnson government would be catastrophic for the party and the country.

Truss quit Thursday after a turbulent 45 days, conceding that she could not deliver on her botched tax-cutting economic package, which she was forced to abandon after it sparked fury within her party and weeks of turmoil in financial markets.

Sunak, who was Treasury chief from 2020 until this summer, steered Britain’s slumping economy through the coronavirus pandemic. He quit in July in protest of Johnson’s leadership.

In the summer contest to replace Johnson, Sunak called promises by Truss and other rivals to immediately slash taxes reckless “fairy tales” and argued that climbing inflation must be controlled first.

Tory voters backed Truss over Sunak, but he was proved right when Truss’ unfunded tax-cutting package triggered chaos in the markets in September.

Dozens among Britain’s 357 Conservative lawmakers have not yet publicly declared whom they are backing to replace Truss.